James b



(No Model.)

J. B. THURSTON 8; F. R. BUTTERPIELD. GAR COUPLING.

No. 878,269. Patented Feb. 21, 1888..

linirnn *ra'rns PATENT tries.

JAMES B. THURSTON AND FINLEY B. BUTTERFIELD, OF CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE; SAID BUTTERFIELD ASSIGNOR- TO SAID THUR-STON.

CAR-=COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 378,269, dated February 21, 1888.

Application filed August 10, 1885. Serial No. 173,980. (No model) To all whom @325 may concern.-

Be it known that we, JAMES B. THURSTON and Franny It. BUTTERFIELD, citizens of the United States, residing at Concord, in the county of Merrimac and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Oar-Oouplings,of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to automatic carcouplings which connect one with another by means of a hook or jaw in place of the ordinary link and pin.

The object of our invention is to provide a coupler which may be readily adjusted so as to accommodate itself to cars of various heights, and which, after being disconnected from a train, will return automatically to a position ready to again couple to the same.

Our invention consists in providing means whereby the draw hook or jaw may slide ver tically upon and to various points above or below the draw-bar.

Our invention further consists of alever fulerunicd. at some suitable point betweeneither end thereof to the under side of the draw-bar of a car or locomotive-tender, one end of said lever bearing against the under side of said sliding jaw and the other end being provided with a weight which will slightly overbalance the said sliding hook or jaw; and our invention finally consists in providingsuitable means whereby said sliding jaw may be pushed down orlowcred for the purpose of disconnecting the same from the drawhook of an adjacent car.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the rear end of a locomotive-tender having attached a portion of a draw-bar and provided with our improved sliding hook or jaw as when in position to couple to a car, and means for operating the same. Fig. 2 shows a similar view having our improved sliding hook or jaw lowered as when ready to uncouple from an adjacent car. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of a draw-bar with our improved sliding head attached thereto. Fig. 4 shows an end or face view of the same, having a section of the rod by which the jaw is lowered connected to said jaw.

The draw-bar A may be constructed of wrought-iron plates separated by suitable castings and riveted together in the usual manmore and hung underneath a car or (as in the drawings) a locomotive-tender, B, by means of loops G, which are secured by bolts to the frame thereof.

Upon the side of that end of the draw-barA to which the hook or jaw D must be attached is a tongue, A, which projects vertically above and below the same. This may be of any of the various forms; butprobably a T-tongue is best adapted to its purpose' The tongue A is therefore shown in the drawings to fit a T- groove formed in one side of the sliding jaw D. The location of this tongue for practical purposes should be as near as possible to the back end of the jaw, or, in other words, to the part (i of said jaw, as shown in the drawings.

A lever, E, having its point of fulcrum eat some suitable point between either end thereof, is hung either to the car or tender frame or to one of the loops C, supporting the draw-bar, as in Figs. 1 and 2. The forward or outer end of said lever is adapted to bear against the under side of the jaw D, and the opposite end has a weight, F, attached. This weight will be sufficiently heavy to slightly overbalance the total weight of the said jaw, so that when said jaw has been forced down, as in Figs. 2 to 4, the lever E, by means of the weight F, will return it at the proper time to the position shown in Fig. 1.

Various mechanisms may be employed for dropping the sliding jaw, as but five pounds pressure is necessary to lower it. For instance, a rod may be attached to the lever E near the jaw, and its upper end connect with a lever pivoted to a car-platform or a tender, as the case may be, or a rod or bar, G, may be so pivoted to an arm, (1, projecting laterally from underneath the jaw, as that said rod may be capable of swinging laterally, the upper end of said rod being pivoted to a lever, H, which in the drawings is shown as fulcrumed to the tank of a locomotive-tender. This same mechanism would readily apply to cars, however, by simply pivoting the lever H in a transverse position to the end irons or platform of a car.

When our improved coupling is applied to a freightcar, it will be necessary to provide some means for retaining the sliding jaw,while in the act of drawing a train, at a point, say, one inch, more or less, above or below the plane of the draw-bar A, from the fact that a freighted car is always liable to be attached to an empty car, in which case the latter would be much higher than the former and but a fraction of the face of the jaws would be in contact with each other. In order to overcome this difficulty an are, I, may be provided to which the lever H may be pivoted, instead of attaching it directly to a tender-tank or car-platform, and a curvilinear slot, t, be formed therein, as seen in Fig. 1, through which a suitable screw, J, is passed and threaded to the lever H. Thus, after placing the sliding jaw at the desired point relative to an adjacent draw-head, said thumbscrew has simply to be tightened. The radial center of the curvilinear slott' must necessarilybe thepoint offulcrum for thelever H when this device is used. The part cl of the jaw D is projected one inch, more or less, above and below the upper and lower surface of said jaw, so as to allow of said jaw being made thinner than the ordinary Miller coupler, for the purpose of reducing its weight, the part (I being the only portion of said jaw which is as high or thick from top to bottom as are the automatic couplers in ordinary use. A slot or groove, d may be formed in one side of the jaw, and a vertical hole, d", be provided entirely through the same for the purpose of hitching to an ordinary link and pin when necessary. Afriction-roll, 6, may be hung in that end of the lever E which bears up the sliding jaw D, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, which will greatly improve its operation.

Having describedour invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an automatic ear-coupling, the combination,with a draw-bar, of a Vertically-adjustable draw hook or jaw adapted to slide down below the draw-head of an adjacent car for the purpose of uncoupling from the same, and means whereby said jaw may be raised automatically to its normal position.

2. In an automatic car-coupling, the combination,with a draw-bar, of avertically-adjustable draw hook or jaw adapted to slide down below the draw-head of an adjacent car for the purpose of disconnecting from the same, a lever attached at some convenient point upon a car or a locomotive-tender for lowering said jaw,and means whereby saidja v may be raised automatically to its normal position.

3. In an automatic car-coupling, the combination,with a draw-bar, of a vertically-adjust able draw hook or jaw,alever attached at some convenient point upon a car or a locomotivetender for lowering said jaw for the purpose of uncoupling from an. adjacent car,and means whereby said sliding jaw may be raised automatically and retained at various heights relative to the said draw-bar, for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination, with the grooved jaw, of the weighted lever, the tongue on the drawbar, the rod, the lever, and the slotted arc head provided with a thumb-screw for adjusting said lever, as set forth.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES B. THURSTON. FINLEY It. BUTTERFIELD. lVitnessesz' JOHN H. ALBIN, NATHANIEL E. MARTIN. 

